'How to be green? Many people have asked us this important question. It's really very simple and requires no expert knowledge or complex skills. Here's the answer. Consume less. Share more. Enjoy life.' Penny Kemp and Derek Wall

30 Dec 2009

Copenhagen like 'last scene from the Battle of Algiers'

I didn't make it to Copenhagen, I am a bit fixed on trying to get a couple of people elected into Westminister and I have been finishing two books and I occassionaly like to see my three children and partner...however a good friend was there organising events, this is his report back.

The implosion of the UNFCCC process has created a political vacuum, which the climate justice movement globally is trying to fill. Evo Morales has called for an international conference of social movement this spring.

To me, the high-point of the whole week of protests, had to be the People's Assembly. Despite being battered by lines of baton wielding Danish robo-cops and have our demo truck seized, together with the arrest our spokespersons. We still managed to pull off the assembly, with representatives of struggles from peasant, indigenous and workers movement (including Ian from the Vestas occupation) from both the North and South giving their testimony of what it means to fight for climate justice.

The Danish state won a Pyrrhic victory at the Bella Centre, they may have beaten us tactically, but their conduct has accelerated the birth of a new movement for climate justice. Those of us there were priviliged to witness its birth, however fitful and faltering the start. I am reminded of the last scene from the Battle of Algiers. French paratroopers, under general Massu, manage to crush the FLN, as we see the last guerilla die in a hail of gun fire. But the tactical defeat of the FLN far from demoralising the movement, inspires a popular rebellion of the Algerian people which brings about national liberation.

No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics

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About Me

I am a green activist, writer and economist. Three kids, live in Winkfield. Live low impact on the land in my trailer, I am a Green Party local councillor. Ecosocialist and fan of Elinor Ostrom, have worked closely with the Peruvian indigenous leader Hugo Blanco to fight.